Is Joking Considered Lying? Is Humor Allowed in Islam?

- What Is the Place and Proper Measure of Joking in Our Religion?

Dear Brother / Sister,

We should state firstly that there is a lot of place for joking in the life of the Prophet (pbuh). Hz. Anas states the following regarding the issue:

“The Messenger of Allah was the one that made jokes with children the most."

When Hz. Prophet (pbuh) made jokes, he paid attention to certain criteria:

a. He always told the truth even when he joked.

b. He did not argue with anyone unnecessarily even if it was a joke.

c. He did not frighten people.

d. He did not joke by mocking people.

Like Hz. Prophet (pbuh), the Companions also made jokes probably due to his vast tolerance.

All words and deeds that harm human personality and honor mean to violate others’ rights. The order in community is ensured by showing respect to others’ rights, getting to know one another and talking to one another. A person who does not want his rights to be violated will definitely show respect to others’ rights. In order to ensure showing respect to law, Allah rendered it haram to transgress others’ wealth and all kinds of mocking, backbiting, lying, slandering, gossiping and similar verbal assaults that harm human honor. Similar practical and verbal jokes that will generally humiliate others were forbidden by the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh):

"Do not struggle with your brother and do not make jokes with him." (Tirmidhi, Birr, 58)

A Quranic decree (al-Hadid, 57/16) was sent down about some Companions who made a lot of jokes. Jokes that include lies are haram because they are lies. However, jokes are permissible if they are not derogatory in the form of lies, mocking and slandering.

Hz. Prophet and his Companions were seen to make jokes with their friends. Abu Hurayra narrates:

The Companions said to the Messenger of Allah:

"O Messenger of Allah! You also make jokes with us." The Messenger of Allah said,

"I only tell the truth; I never tell anything except the truth." (Tirmidhi, Birr, 57)

Ibn Abbas narrates:

A man asked,

"Did the Messenger of Allah make jokes?" I said,

"Yes, he did." He asked,

"How did the Messenger of Allah make jokes?" I said, "Once, Hz. Prophet (pbuh) gave a large and long dress to one of his wives and said to her, 'Put on this dress; Thank Allah and sweep the floor with it like a bride.'"

Hz. Anas narrates:

The Messenger of Allah was the man who had the highest ethics among the people. I had a brother called Umayr. When the Messenger of Allah saw my brother, he said,

"Abu Umayr! What is the bird doing?" My brother used to play with his bird.

At some prayer times, the Messenger of Allah was in our house; he asked a prayer rug to be put on the ground; he would sweep the rug, sprinkle some water on it and then perform prayers. We would stand behind him and perform prayers with him. The prayer rug was made of date-palm fibers.

Anas b. Malik narrates:

A man came to the Prophet and wanted him to mount on his camel. The Messenger of Allah said,

"I will make you mount a baby of a she-camel." The man said,

"O Messenger of Allah! How can I ride a baby camel?" The Messenger of Allah said,

"Are all camels not born of she-camels?"

Hz. Anas narrates:

A Bedouin called Zahir brought some gifts from the desert to the Messenger of Allah. When he wanted to return, the Messenger of Allah also gave him some gifts and said,

"Zahir represents those of us living in the desert; we represent those of them living in the city." He was an ugly person but the Messenger of Allah loved him a lot. When he was shopping, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) hugged him from the back without showing him his face and asked him,

"Who am I?" When he returned, he recognized the Messenger of Allah and did not separate his back from his chest. The Messenger of Allah asked,

"Who will buy this slave?" He said,

"O Messenger of Allah! You find me worthless." The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"You are not worthless in the eye of Allah; your value is high in the eye of Allah."

Anas said, "When the Messenger of Allah was together with his wives, he was the nicest person and the one who made the most jokes." The Prophet liked smiling and making jokes kindly.

Hz. Aisha narrates:

"Once, the Messenger of Allah ran a race with me and I ran faster than him. Afterwards, I got fatter and he ran a race with me again. This time he ran faster than me."

Once, Hz. Aisha, Hz Sawda and the Prophet (pbuh) were eating porridge together. Hz Sawda said, "I do not like this dish." Hz. Aisha said, "I will spread it on your face if you do not eat it." While they were talking, Hz. Aisha spread some porridge on Hz. Sawda’s face with her finger and then Hz Sawda spread some porridge on Hz. Sawda’s face with her finger; thus, the made jokes with each other. Hz Prophet (pbuh) watched them by smiling.  

Hz. Suhayb narrates:

I was eating dates though my eye ached. When Hz. Prophet saw this, he said,

"Are you eating dates though your eye aches?" I said,

"O Messenger of Allah! I eat dates with the side that does not ache." The Messenger of Allah smiled so much that I saw his molar teeth.

Nuayman al-Ansari, one of the Companions, liked making jokes a lot. Once, when fresh fruits and milk came to Madinah, he got some and took them to the Messenger of Allah. He said,

"O Messenger of Allah! I bought them for you and brought them to you as a gift." A few days later, the owner of the goods came and asked Nuayman to pay for them. He took the man to the Messenger of Allah and said,

"O Messenger of Allah! Will you pay this man for the food?" the Messenger of Allah said,

"O Nuayman! Did you not give them to me as a gift?" He said,

"O Messenger of Allah! When I bought them, I did not have any money with me. I wanted you to eat and drink them. Therefore, I brought them to you." The Messenger of Allah smiled and paid for them.

They are nice jokes. It is mustahab to make jokes like that from time to time without transgressing the limits and hurting others. The Prophet (pbuh) approved nice and occasional jokes. However, it is necessary to avoid making jokes all the time. There are some mubah (permissible) deeds that can be transformed into sins if they are done all the time. It is forbidden to make jokes that harm, trouble and disturb people.

The jokes that Hz. Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions did were not offending and did not include lies. Such jokes increase the love between people. However, it is necessary not to exceed the limits in joking and in everything.

Practical jokes and jokes made with objects that can kill and wound are forbidden.

"If a person points an iron at his brother – he can even be his biological brother – in order to frighten him, angels will damn that person until he puts it down."

"Never point a weapon at your brother. For, Satan can make the person who points it throw (shoot) it and kills him. Then, he falls into a hole in Hell.” (Riyadus-Salihin, III/293)

It is approved and even encouraged to make jokes and play with his wife since it will increase the love between them. (Abu Dawud, Adab, 84, 85,149; Ibn Majah, Jihad, 40; Ahmed b. Hanbal, II/352, 364, 3/67, 5/32)

However, it is not appropriate to talk by making fun of a person even if allegorically. It means to violate people’s rights and Allah’s rights; for instance, to say "How nice!"  sarcastically despite knowing that it is bad. It is necessary to avoid sarcastic attitudes and words. 

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